Skip to main content

Mac Pro monitor review: The best 4K & UHD monitors for Mac

Check out our updated roundup of the best 4K and 5K displays for Mac for 2016.

So Apple didn’t release a 4K (or 5K) standalone Retina display alongside the new 5K iMac, but you can’t hold off any longer on a shiny new display for your Mac Pro. I found myself in the same predicament not too long ago and decided to put a number of displays to the test in recent months. 4K might offer 4x the resolution of your standard 1080p display, but for the short time they’ve been around, they’ve also cost about 4x as much as the alternatives. The good news: There are a few Mac Pro compatible 4K displays (and UHD alternatives) finally starting to hit more reasonable price points just as recent OS X updates fix some issues early adopters first had with the higher resolution displays.

I’ve been testing Mac Pro compatible displays from Dell, Sharp, Samsung, LG, and others that are officially supported by Apple, and put together a list of my thoughts and top picks for those planning on picking up a new Mac Pro this holiday season. Despite my tests being done mostly on a new, stock Mac Pro, these picks stand for Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook users as well.

Apple last made silent minor tweaks to the Thunderbolt display in July 2012, but otherwise it has remained the same since its introduction over 3 years ago. I don’t have much bad to say about Apple’s display— it’s tried and tested and a solid choice— but at $999 almost three years later, I’m inclined to recommend these new 4K displays over Apple’s.

BEST OVERALL – DELL 31.5” UltraSharp UP3214Q – $1,699 |

In my tests, the Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q offered the fewest compromises with most shortcomings being OS X related and often much more pronounced in other 4K displays, especially anything in what would be considered an affordable price point for most. Color accuracy, refresh rate, a high-quality IGZO panel, and a solid physical design, most of the other displays I tried didn’t impress in at least one or more of these categories, but the Dell stood strong.

Using this Dell 4K monitor was the first time an external display has been able to live up to the experience of my Retina MacBook Pro, which I had been using since its launch in 2011 before acquiring a new Mac Pro this year. One thing is true for all of these 4K displays: Once you go 4K, there’s no going back. This is a bigger problem for those coming from a Retina MacBook to a new Mac Pro like myself: 1080p simply doesn’t cut it once you’ve experienced super crisp text on a Retina display making 4K a necessity for many.

OS X supports the Dell UP3214Q at 60Hz after manually enabling DisplayPort 1.2 (the same can’t be said for all supported 4K displays) and that’s what I opted for using a mini DisplayPort 1.2 cable into the Thunderbolt port on my Mac Pro and the mini DisplayPort on the monitor. That works with MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), Mac Pro (Late 2013), and iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014).

The monitor includes 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 1 mini-DisplayPort, 4 USB 3.0 and a 6-in-1 media card reader, and the stand offers adjustable height, swivel and tilting.

OS X 10.9.3 introduced scaling options for 4K displays not unlike those available for Apple’s own Retina displays. That corrected a lot of the initial complaints about 4K displays with Macs and made the higher resolution displays usable. Apple’s “Best for Display” option, which gives you the display’s full 3840 x 2160 resolution, still made UI elements a bit too tiny for my liking, so I opted for the next down scaling preset that looks like 3008 x 1692 but keeps everything on the display incredibly sharp and easy to read. A side by side comparison of those two resolutions (other scaling options exist) is above. For iOS and Mac users, it’s as close as you’ll get to the experience of a Retina display iPhone or Mac considering the larger 31.5-inch Dell has a much lower 140 PPI pixel density.

I still do have a few hiccups even with the latest Yosemite release using the Dell, and it appears to be related to 4K resolution support as the same issues appeared on displays from Sharp and others, but not lesser resolution UHD options. From time to time I experienced minor screen tearing effects when scrolling and the Dell has issues waking up when my Mac Pro has been asleep for extended periods of time, often requiring a reboot using the display’s power button. While annoyances, neither issue kept me from making this my main display and the top pick among all of the 4K displays I’ve tested.

To top it all off, the Dell has become what I’d consider affordable down from its starting price of $2999 to as low as $1500 and dropping today (Amazon).

RUNNER UP – LG 34” 21:9 UltraWide QHD (34UM95) | $824

It’s not quite 4K, but LG’s new 21:9 Thunderbolt display gives the 4K displays a run for their money by offering one of the most attractive so-called UHD displays that, apart from resolution, beats out most displays on this list in just about every other aspect. At a resolution of 3440 x 1440, the super wide screen format has a lot to offer for pros that spend most of their time in timeline-based editing apps like Logic Pro or Final Cut. You lose a bit of the print quality crispness on text when coming from the Dell and other 4K resolution monitors, but with everything else it offers and a lower price point might make this a better option for many Mac Pro users.

The display didn’t have any of the growing pains experienced with the 4K displays, as mentioned above with the Dell and below with the others. LG made the display to be completely Mac Pro compatible. There’s a lot to like about the Thunderbolt ports at the rear: One allowed me to connect to the Mac Pro using a Thunderbolt cable at the full 3440 x 1440 resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate, while the other acts as a spare for daisy chaining up to six Thunderbolt devices or additional displays.

The monitor includes 2 HDMI ports, headphone out, 1 Display Port, and 2 Thunderbolt ports.

The 21:9 widescreen format is truly an experience all its own. It’s essentially like having two 20.5-inch, 5:4, 1720×1440 displays side by side in one 34-inch panel, and LG also has a Screen Split app that works well for easily docking windows side-by-side in various configurations to get the most out of the wide screen while multitasking. It’s great for pro apps that take full advantage of the wider format for timelines and other features, although it feels a bit vertically challenged in comparison to 4K monitors on the list if a horizontal workflow isn’t your thing.

Content made for the 21:9 widescreen format won’t look better anywhere else, and any content such as games that do not support the widescreen will get black bars along the side of the display essentially giving you a 16:9 display square in the middle. But it’s not my top pick for everyday mainly because the 4K displays blew it away for overall screen real restate while offering crystal clear, nearly print quality text, something that is extremely important in my decision for an everyday work display while multitasking. Having this is as a second monitor for working in pro apps that can benefit from the widescreen is a no-brainer, and it’s by far the nicest looking display on the list from a purely aesthetic standpoint.

The 34” 21:9 Ultrawide WQHD display I reviewed currently sells for $824 (Amazon), and LG has since released a curved version of this display— The 34” 21:9 UltraWide Curved Monitor— that has a slightly different stand and some other tweaks for $1299 or $1799 on (Amazon).

SHARP 32″ (PN-K321) 4K Ultra HD LED Monitor – $2,900|

If it weren’t for the fact this display still rings in at around $3,000, around twice as much as the Dell monitor above and most others on this list, Sharp might have come in closer to the top. But I couldn’t justify spending twice as much on it when comparing the two displays side by side and living with them for the past couple months. The benefits of Sharp’s IGZO panel brings the same best in class marks for colors and viewing angles present in Dell’s monitor, but I’d put it a notch behind Dell in other categories including overall design, price, and user experience for configuration and more. While the Dell has come down in price by about half of its original asking price, the Sharp remains too pricey to recommend over other options.

One category the Sharp definitely wins in is build quality. The whole package is quite a tank in comparison to the Dell, which cuts down on any potential wobbling, although it’s mainly the weight of the display, a wider base, and slightly beefier stand.  That’s not to take away from the Dell’s hardware, which is solid and not too long ago cost about the same as the $3000 Sharp.  The stand is comparable to Dell’s with adjustable height, swivel and tilting action. On the back the display has two HDMI ports, 1 DisplayPort, and audio in/out. 

Apple continues to offer this display as an add-on alongside the Mac Pro and through its online store for $3595. Or get it on Amazon for as low as $2900. 

ASUS 31.5” (PQ321Q) 4K Monitor – $1469 |

With a 31.5-inch IGZO panel from Sharp like the Dell UP3214Q, there isn’t much to complain about with this display and it remains a solid option if you aim to save a couple hundred dollars over our top pick. But with the Dell coming down in price and often on sale for the same price or less than the Asus, there aren’t many reasons to recommend this display over Dell’s unless you simply prefer its design.

It includes an 2 HDMI ports, 1 DisplayPort 1.2, Audio in/out and is essentially the same design as the Sharp display above.

UNDER $1000 – DELL 24” (UP2414QAs low as $690 |

Dell’s UP24 looks like a smaller, 24-inch version of our top pick, the 31.5” UltraSharp UP3214Q, but it includes an LG panel of lesser quality that leaves much to be desired when it comparing it to the 31.5-inch version’s IGZO panel from Sharp. Still, at $600, it’s an officially supported option that is probably your best bet if your budget doesn’t allow for any of the picks above. Apple also supports this display with a refresh rate of 60 Hz — the only display with support in this price range– when using a DisplayPort 1.2 cable and manually enabling the setting for MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013, Mac Pro (Late 2013), and iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014. 

$690 (Amazon)

COMING SOON: LG 31″ Cinema 4K Monitor (31MU97) | $1399

The new LG 4K has promise: Apple just added this recently announced LG display (31MU97) to its list of officially supported 4K and UHD displays for OS X. We’re awaiting a review unit and will do a full review plus update this comparison once it arrives (perhaps we’ll have a new winner!).

It features a “Digital Cinema 4K” native resolution of 4096 x 2160, slightly higher than the other 4K displays on this list, an IPS LED panel like our top picks, 2 HDMI, 4USB, 1 headphone port, 1 Display Port, and 1 mini Display Port. Its stand also allows switching to a portrait landscape on the fly, without requiring a third-party Vesa mount, and it starts at a competitive $1399 as it rolls out to various markets slowly.

It’s available to order now for $1,399 in select regions (Amazon).

GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR |

Other 4K displays exist, but straying from Apple’s official list of supported displays is dangerous territory with a long list of compatibility issues documented online for the majority. Things are a little better for compatibility with these cheaper displays if you can deal with an often choppy 30Hz refresh rate or a less than spectacular panel, and MacBook users seem to be having more success with unsupported displays than Mac Pro users.

We got a $400 Samsung 4K display up and running on a custom Mac setup, but it’s not a route I’d recommend going. There’s a reason Samsung’s 28-Inch 4K Monitor (U28D590D) isn’t officially supported by Apple, and at a $500 price tag and dropping, you can probably imagine you’ll be getting what you pay for here when it comes to both build quality and compatibility.

Check out our updated roundup of the best 4K and 5K displays for Mac for 2016.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. The Dell UP2414Q and the P2815Q are not the same monitor. One is IPS, the other is TN. One is officially supported by OS X, the other is not.

  2. dm33 - 9 years ago

    Seiki 39″ for $290. Now there’s a deal. Even can be make to work with MacBook airs. But requires some hacking. Apple will probably try to break. Only supports 30hz. But for this price it’s working great for development and I’m a happy camper.

    • Nick Jaquay - 9 years ago

      30hz? Oh hell no. That’s going to be a strain on your eyes.

      • xperiazultra - 9 years ago

        I have used the Seiki 39″ in 4K mode for many months with zero strain on my eyes and I am not the only one who does not have a problem using 30Hz displays.

      • sjhwilkes - 9 years ago

        No the panel refreshes at 120hz, so no eyestrain. Certainly no gaming though.
        I got one for sub 400 too, and it’s a great amount of real estate for the $$. I don’t see the point of 4K for my uses below 30″ (my secondary screen is a Dell 30″ panel), though the Dell 32″ is getting pretty reasonable now.

      • bwulfe - 9 years ago

        I’ve been using a Seiki 39″ 4K since I got my Mac Pro in late January. It works great; especially considering the price. (I used a Spyder4 Elite to properly calibrate.) Due to aging eyes, I have to use it at a scaled-up resolution (true 4K makes everything too small to read.) With my fingers crossed; I’m hoping I might be able to work with the full 4K after Cataract surgery & Multifocal lens implants next month.

        The only truly negative point I have against the Seiki, is the inability to bypass its automatic power-down if it goes more than 5 minutes without video input. Unlike my Thunderbolt display, it can’t go into a reduced power sleep mode. It is either on or it is off. I either have to use the remote control to keep turning the monitor back on (since the manual power button is hidden on the right rear of the monitor) or keep both of my monitors active at all times (using a screen saver); so that I can begin working as soon as I sit down to my desk.

    • kldcoombs - 9 years ago

      I also have the Seiki and have been very pleased for the price.

      With that said, I have an issue with the pointer (mouse) lagging, and a somewhat slow response to mouse movements when doing things like re-sizing windows. I am using the Seiki simultaneously with two Asus 28″ with 1920 x 1200. I don’t have any issues with the Asus, even when using them simultaneously with the Seiki. I have found Apple support surprisingly uninformed on this topic.

      Has anyone experienced slow pointer response (this isn’t unbearable, just annoying) and then solved the problem by changing monitors? I am not convinced that this issue is a result of the refresh rate, but I am willing to purchase a different monitor if someone can confirm that they have seen this issue, and then solved it with a ‘supported’ monitor.

      For my impressions of the Seiki, I tried several 4k TV’s, all of them using HDMI (i.e. 30hz refresh) many of them were not recognized appropriately by my macbook pro, the Seiki worked flawlessly from that perspective. At $389 it was MUCH less expensive than any of the other 4k tv’s I tried. I thought that perhaps usinf the Thunderbolt port would perform better, but most of the converters I purchased wouldn’t recognize 4k. I did finally find a Thunderbolt to HDMI converter that worked (goFanco active cable). Although this did allow for the monitor to be recognized appropriately at 4k, it did not resolve the cursor response issue.

      4k looks fantastic (i.e. 4k content from youtube looks much better than the same content playing at 1080p). the extra real estate is great for big spreadsheets and working on multiple documents / versions of document simultaneously, which is my primary use case. I don’t see any ‘flicker’ like with slow refresh / interlaced CRT monitors from the late 90s (I kind of expected this when I read I could only get 30hz, but nothing of the kind – not sure what the result would be if I gamed).

      I would really appreciate any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations on the pointer lag issue from anyone who has experienced and solved it.

  3. Nick Jaquay - 9 years ago

    You should mention that the LG isn’t compatible with OS X Yosemite – users experience Display kernel panics with it and some other models, primarily when using it with Mac Pro’s.

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      The 21;9? I’ve had no issues with it using my new Mac Pro and a Thunderbolt cable.

      • Traducto (@TraductoApp) - 9 years ago

        Are you able to increase/decrease your Mac volume when the display is the sound output?

  4. Kasimani Baskaran - 9 years ago

    NEC has a beautiful 24″ 4K monitor around $1300 (EA244UHD). Why no mention of that?

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      Not officially supported by Apple. I haven’t tested it. And it looks like people are having some issues with it on OS X, which is likely the reason it’s not supported by Apple yet.

  5. Truffol (@Truffol) - 9 years ago

    I’d get refurbished versions that knock a couple hundred dollars off right away!

  6. Edwin Campos - 9 years ago

    I have 2 x Samsung U28D590D running on my 6-core Dual D700 Mac Pro running 3840×2160 @ 60Hz each. It is an SST panel and the only issues I have is that I do not see the Apple logo while booting and it blinks once after waking up from sleep (only main display). In Windows, I had to run one at 60Hz and one at 55Hz to not get tearing or “static”, this is a drivers issue, the bootcamp drivers would not detect anything above 1440p. Running a single display I get no issues in Windows.

    They are great monitors, and truly, I prefer an SST over MST even while Apple is “supporting” only MST at the moment. I am disappointed in this review (and Apple) because Apple has refused to fully support SST where MST has its own issues unless it is a $1000+ display. Now, if you are doing high-end color renderings, then I understand the statement of “you’ll be getting what you pay for”, other than that, there are very few reasons to pay more for a panel. Is the base a little shaky? Yes, but I have a very solid desk, I do not put them on my lap or use them in my car which otherwise makes it unnoticeable.

    I would of been one of the first buying an Apple display as expensive as it would of been, but that is not the case right now; and for less than $1000 I got 2 x 4K displays that after minor tweaks look great, no ghosting in games, no lag, running 60Hz (in OSX), nice colors, etc.

    I don’t mean to rant, but I checked the reviews of all the monitors on Amazon, and hands down, this 4K display wins compared to all the ones on this list (and more). It is the 4K display for the masses, whether you have a $300 space saver (may not run 4K) or a $6000+ Mac Pro.

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      Happy that you got these up and running. They are cheap build quality but at the end of the day I agree the panel looks decent for its price and still offers most of the benefits of 4K.

      The problem is many of the issues with these are dependent on specific Macs and setup, which makes it hard to recommend. So while you’re having a decent experience with it, the Dell blows it away in just about every way when comparing side by side. That + no official support lead me to my decisions for this list.

      Also be warned that bad reviews for the Dell and Sharp on Amazon and elsewhere are mostly by those not using proper cables or prior to recent OS X updates that fixed issues.

      • Edwin Campos - 9 years ago

        I expect nothing less from a display that cost 4 times as much (yes, I bought one of my 4K displays for $400 shipped, new, not refurbished). As far as “most benefits of 4K” I am not sure what you are referring to, the graphics card sends a signal and the display paints it on whether it is SST or MST, it still gets displayed. MST may have more coordination which baffles me why Apple doesn’t just support a more simplistic method. You can argue color, brightness, resolution (if they were different), pixel density, viewing angle, etc, but in no way is the U28D590D a bad choice. I have ran it on my Mac Pro as well as my wife’s Macbook Pro Retina, no issues. Sure we have to tweak some things here and there, but the way I see it, we are still talking about a very nice display. Will the extra $1200 make web browsing and overall tasks better? No. There is a VERY long post on the Apple Discussion forums about this display, there are early adopter woes associated with it, but they are things that I expect Apple to fix.

        Anywho, this is a TN panel and I get the “shortcomings” it may have, but I just went from a Dell 24″ 1080P IPS display with a semi-glossy screen to this and I couldn’t be happier for the price. Do I prefer IPS? Yes. Do I prefer a semi-glossy or glossy glass front? Yes. Am I willing to pay for it to make colors look “better”? No. I rather calibrate and get close for a fraction of the cost. But then again, I am not a pro photographer or videographer that needs 90+ CRI out of the thing (which no 4K can deliver as of yet). It simply is not a viable option (in my opinion of course) to go with a 4 times more expensive display because it is “supported” when bare functionality is all that is needed; but again, how many things does Apple condemn third party hardware? Modified video cards, third party RAM, SSD’s, HDD’s, processor swaps, etc.

        I would err on the side of caution with crappy cables, I ended buying the Startech DP to mDP cables after buying some “off brand” cable and they worked MUCH better, both were rated for DP1.2 but the Startech simply does a better job. The whole 4K frontline is very blurry with all these drivers, existing standards, OS implementation, and new hardware, but I am hoping it will all turn around eventually. In the future (when prices drop) I see myself getting a glass front 5K display (if it ever comes out) when these 4K’s have run their course.

        I don’t mean to troll, but I just don’t want people to be mislead and believe that 4K is out of their wallet’s reach when in fact a VERY GOOD option exists regardless of what Apple says or “supports”. A lot of people read this page often, myself being one of them, and I just want to clear the air and say what is really happening before someone gets discouraged.

        Get the correct OSX update, get the correct cables, and you will be just fine with the U28D590D. Now, Yosemite brings its own issues and cannot be blamed on a display.

  7. Chuck Smith-Dewey - 9 years ago

    I’ve had the new LG 4K display (two of them actually) for a month, and love it.

  8. Marcus Leng - 9 years ago

    Now only come down to 2 units, Dell UP3214Q vs LG 31MU97.

  9. b1c2a3 - 9 years ago

    I wish the article noted which Macs besides the Mac Pro – if any – could drive monitors this large.

    That LG monitor looks great, especially for the price. It’s something I’d love to have for my Mac mini.

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      I actually mentioned and linked to Apple’s list of officially supported displays in the article. Here it is again: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856

      It also lists which Macs support the 4K displays, at either 30hz or 60hz using HDMI or DisplayPort. They include MacBook Pro (Retina, Late 2013 and later), Mac Pro (Late 2013), iMac (27-inch, Late 2013 and later), Mac mini (Late 2014).

      For 60hz, Apple only officially supports some displays with the following Macs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013, Mac Pro (Late 2013), and iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), as mentioned in the review.

      Hope that helps.

  10. Guillaume DocGuillaume - 9 years ago

    Hi,
    can anybody tell me if that monitor I wanna buy Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q is compatible with DisplayPort with my Mac Pro 5,1 mid-2010 with a GeForce GTX 980, under Yosemite 10.10.1 ?
    Thanx

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      Apple’s list of officially supported displays in the article: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856

      It also lists which Macs support the 4K displays, at either 30hz or 60hz using HDMI or DisplayPort. They include MacBook Pro (Retina, Late 2013 and later), Mac Pro (Late 2013), iMac (27-inch, Late 2013 and later), Mac mini (Late 2014).

      For 60hz, Apple only officially supports some displays with the following Macs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013, Mac Pro (Late 2013), and iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), as mentioned in the review.

      Hope that helps.

  11. bwatching - 9 years ago

    I had been waiting for the LG31MU97 since it was called the LG31MU95 back in January.
    Had every thing I wanted, IPS, true 4K DCI specifications. (I’m a TV/Film editor) I have a late 2013 Mac Pro that I had been using with one of those Samsung TV/ monitor combos that was on sale at Costco while waiting and saving for the LG panel to come out. Last month I saw the 28 inch Samsung. I thought it looked cool but I dismissed it because it was a TN panel. I then saw that the LG panel was finally out. Started researching reviews and saw that even though the monitor can do 4096 the Mac was still limited to UHD resolutions. I was a early adopter in 2011 and had a HP dream color on a Mac Pro tower with an Nvidia card, and it’s heart breaking to find out the monitor you bought is neutered by your operating system and you can’t use it how you intended. With this in mind and an Amazon Lightning deal I bought the Samsung for $399. I still have intent on getting the LG, but I don’t feel I need to rush.
    I currently have the Samsung hooked up HDMI, so I’m locked to 30hz. But I’m still running on 10.9.5 and 60hz tearing isn’t fixed until 10.10 which I will be updating to. I highly recommend you get a calibration unit like Xrite i1display pro. Out of the box you look at the picture it’s not very pretty. But after calibration it’s pretty good considering it’s a TN panel. Is the stand crap? Yes. I have a piece of paper wedged underneath to keep it level. But I do have to say the Samsung is a great 4K display place holder to tide you over till more options come out.

  12. Leif Paul Ashley - 9 years ago

    wow… Santa, I need a Mulligan!

  13. Frank Murphy - 9 years ago

    Fab article – thanks for the info. Does the Dell UP3214Q work with the new Mac Minis via Display Port or will it work only via HDMI at 30hz?

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      Not officially supported at 60.

      Apple’s list of officially supported displays in the article: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856

      It also lists which Macs support the 4K displays, at either 30hz or 60hz using HDMI or DisplayPort. They include MacBook Pro (Retina, Late 2013 and later), Mac Pro (Late 2013), iMac (27-inch, Late 2013 and later), Mac mini (Late 2014).

      For 60hz, Apple only officially supports some displays with the following Macs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013, Mac Pro (Late 2013), and iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), as mentioned in the review.

      Hope that helps.

  14. Guillaume DocGuillaume - 9 years ago

    Hi all.
    Here is my conclusions on using a Mac Pro 5,1 (mid-2010) with GTX 980 (NVIDIA Web Driver : 343.02.01f01 and CUDA Driver 6.5.33) and a Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q.

    1) GTX 980 works almost fine : but at each Yosemite update you have to wait the NVIDIA Web Driver to be compatible with the new Yosemite update otherwise your Mac won’t start anymore (no display), you have no boot screen.

    2) Quality display is great on the Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q but the colors are better on my Apple Cinema HD Display 30″. My cable was mini-DisplayPort 1.2 on the monitor and DisplayPort on the GTX 980, but the refresh is 30Hz and no 60Hz :(
    No 4K60P, probably because Apple don’t officially support it (http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856).

    I then hope there will be a NVIDIA GTX 980 Mac Edition and that 4K60P will be effective on Mac Pro 5,1 mid-2010.

    • zorn85 - 9 years ago

      Did you actually read the support document? It says that 60hz is supported on the 3214Q as long as you enable DisplayPort 1.2 mode. Did you go into the monitor settings and enable that? If so it should be working fine at 4k60Hz.

      • Guillaume DocGuillaume - 9 years ago

        Hi Zorn85.
        Of course, DisplayPort 1.2 was activated on the Dell monitor.
        At the moment, Apple limit the 4K @30Hz except on Mac Pro (Late 2013).

  15. adamspear - 9 years ago

    Thanks for very interesting article Jordan.

    I see this was published in december, so you probably haven’t tested the new Dell IPS 4k monitors, 2415Q and 2715Q. These are are not the Apple official list, but what downsides could these possibly have?

  16. Jamie Dudding - 9 years ago

    AAhhh so annoyed! i had my samsung delivered today! all day ive been annoyed with it because of the chopppy lag… unless i have large screen format (1080) so amazon return proceedure now! will order the LG

  17. Dennis Pedersen - 9 years ago

    Are you still having issues with the Dell UP3214Q or have they fixed the wake up problems.
    I just got my new mac pro with 6 core and the D300 GPU. And I want to buy a 4K display for my new mac pro.
    Right now it’s Dell UP3214Q vs. ASUS PQ321Q, I want to run 60 hz without the lagging and flickers lines on the right side. So which display did you have fewest issues with. I’m gonna use it for professional video editing so I need one with good color correction.

    I really hope you can help me, cause I find it very difficult to find a 4k display that suits the mac pro best.

  18. Desmond Foulger - 9 years ago

    Samsung works well with Switchresx

  19. Edward J Kirstein - 9 years ago

    I would also like to know if stability with the Dell UP3214Q has improved since the original post. I just picked up the curved version of the LG mentioned here in this article. Having previously used an ultrawide I still feel like I am loosing out on VERTICAL space.

    After reading many forum posts and horror stories about the Dell, I can’t help but wonder if any improvements have been made on this front since its release and early adopter growing pains.

  20. Janne Laakso - 9 years ago

    How does 4K work in OS X 10.10? I’m thinking of upgrading to a new Mac mini with a 28″ 4K monitor (as soon as someone can verify that the mini indeed is capable of 4K @ 60 Hz) but I was wondering about the scaling in OS X. Is there any real benefit in changing to a 28″ 4K monitor from the Thunderbolt Display I am running at the moment? Can I get more real estate with the higher resolution or is it just like a big Full HD display with sharper text and images?

  21. Gareth Owen - 9 years ago

    Does anyone know how many LG 34UM95’s you can connect to a 2013 MacPro? The Apple support document here : https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202801 is frustratingly vague…

  22. Phil Hull - 9 years ago

    Purchased Dell UltraSharp U27134H 27″ WQHD IPS WS 6MS LED . Using Mini Display to DVI D adapter I cannot get full resolution to 2560 x 1440 at 60 Hz. It only goes to 1900? Are you saying If I swap it for the Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q I will get the 4K on MBP (late 2014 model)?

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      Ya, you should. The monitor you’re using isn’t officially supported by Apple for 4K at all. The UP3214Q is and works great with my Mac Pro (latest gen) and my 2013 MacBook Pro. You’ll need to use a DisplayPort 1.2 cable into your Mac’s thunderbolt port. Hope that helps.

  23. Really great review. Use now the Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q and it´s so great :-)))!

  24. Stankie White - 9 years ago

    2 monitors I don’t see anyone reviewing are the Eizo EV3237FX which is an IPS panel with a 5 ms response time and the Viewsonic VP2780-4K active matrix TFT display with 1.07 Billion color support and a 5 ms response time. The Viewsonic is less than $1000 and seems to be one of the best deals for a pro monitor for design professionals. Eizo is known for producing photo professional color accurate monitors and their display is around $2000. I’d opt for either over a $3000 sharp.

  25. any idea if there are refresh rate issues with Samsung S34E790C? 21:9 34″ 3440×1400?

  26. You don’t really say much about the Asus and I’m not even sure what you mean in the few words you devote to it.

    I guess there’s really no point comparing three monitors if you go on mostly about the one you like and then spare only a few words about the other two?

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.